The grass is greener?

Metropolis review

Production company – Lux Radium

Rating –

I’m not too sure where I heard about this podcast. I suspect the title was more than enough to pique my curiosity. With classic stories like London After Midnight, Dracula, and most recently, (although still unlistened by me) Carmilla, I was expecting a new take on the story of the same name.

So, dear friends, let’s make the journey through the frozen wastes to the opulent, domed utopia of Metropolis. A place where the inhabitants want for nothing, and the outsiders can only guess what happens behind closed doors.

So what’s it about?

Despite its name, this isn’t some adaptation of Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking silent film. This has more in common with the grimy cyberpunk ethos envisioned by William Gibson, with a generous helping of the retro futurism of the Bioshock games. In fact Bioshock was the first thing that sprang to mind when I began this journey.

It follows journalist Nanette “Nan” Canalli as she gets a job in the futuristic utopia of Metropolis. Her best friend, and fellow journalist had got a job there previously, but had stopped communication a while back. She decides to get entry to the city to uncover what happened to him. Metropolis hires reporters from various publications to update the outside world with the goings on of the rich inhabitants. Unfortunately, Nan isn’t selected, so she uses a pseudonym to gain entry.

As Nan’s investigation progresses, the veneer of civility in Metropolis gets ever thinner. For all the parties, champagne and labour saving robots, there is a decidedly dark undercurrent. Isn’t there always?

Is it any good?

This is a real “theatre of the mind” experience. As the story develops, you can really imagine yourself in this place. The sound design is amazing. Everywhere is the sound of piped ballroom music that bears more than a passing resemblance to the work of The Caretaker.

The voice acting is also brilliant. All of the characters are played so well, and so believably, that you are soon rooting for the protagonists, and cursing the antagonists as though you were actually involved. This isn’t something that happens too often with me, but my goodness, it’s a refreshing change!

As the story unfolds and the chilling truth reveals itself, the tension ratchets up nicely. There is both the sense of paranoia, but also being a stranger in a strange land. Being lost, with no compass or map. I can only guess what will happen in future, but if it’s as good as the already released episodes, then this will be one of the all time classic podcast series.

Final thoughts

Metropolis is well deserving of top marks here. With some podcasts, I choose to overlook minor niggles in the interest of scoring. Here though, I honestly can’t think of a blemish that would affect the score. The team has built such a great reality that to score it any less than 5 brains would be a travesty.

This is a truly great show. The world is so immersive that it’s very easy to binge the whole lot in one massive chunk. To be perfectly honest, it’s been a while since I listened to this. Coming back to episode 7 (the newest chapter) though, I was instantly back in the crazy, paranoid, luxury world. As this is apparently the halfway point of the story, the pace is beginning to pick up somewhat.

The next few blog posts will be catching up on shows that I have been sent. I’ve had a bit of an influx recently and I’ll try and get through them all in a timely manner.

You can get Metropolis here:

https://pod.link/1769990046

For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods